


worlds that turn on their own

by LastVerse



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Backstory, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-23
Updated: 2012-09-23
Packaged: 2017-11-14 21:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastVerse/pseuds/LastVerse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She walks further into the room, allowing the moonlight to illuminate her face. She has a small cloak pulled over her nightdress and she’s clutching a small stuffed rabbit. He looks away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	worlds that turn on their own

He loves her from the first day he stands on tiptoe to peer into her cradle.

“Look Regina,” Henry whispers softly. “You have a new friend; his name is Jefferson. He’s going to stay with us now.” 

Jefferson isn’t listening, too busy offering his finger to the baby to hold. The dark eyed child reminds him of another girl that he’s trying his hardest to forget.

***

Despite how welcoming her husband is, Lady Cora is far less enthusiastic about opening her home to an orphan. Her smile as she looks down on him pulls her face taut and doesn’t reach her eyes. Nevertheless, she allows Henry to show Jefferson into the guest room. In time, he learns to maneuver life with the Mills. Finishing his work with Henry and staying out of sight of Lady Cora. Love hides in this house, in quick glances and secret gestures. It’s not the paradise he was searching for, but it’s enough for now.

***

The baby grows into a little girl with the long brown curls,adorned with a blue bow. She twirls and skips through the fields once she’s away from the house.  
She is loud and brash and Jefferson thinks her mother must be delusional if she thinks she can turn this scamp into a noble woman. 

***

Regina drops the heavy book on her lap with a sigh and leans into Jefferson’s arm. “Tell me a story.”

They’re taking refuge in the library and watching the rain flow down the large windows. He runs his hand down her hair, tangled and unmanageable, just like she is.

“What about?”

“I don’t know, tell me a story about you.”

He wracks his brain and says, “I had a sister.” 

She twists around to look at him, eyes wide. “Really?”

He strokes her hair and continues without thinking. “She was only 5 the last time I saw her.” He pauses, surprised to find that he doesn’t remember much else. The most he can conjure up is a fuzzy image. “She.. had brown hair,” he continues. It was dark- no, it was light, he corrects himself. He tries to picture her face, defining each feature as he goes. Yet all he can see is Regina, abnormal with his sister’s features imposed on her.  
He decides to focus on what he does remember. “She was a happy kid. Always smiling; you could never stay mad at her.” He laughs shortly. He looks down. “And she was smart. She said she was going to read every book in our library. She even fancied herself an archivist for the King.”

Regina shifts on his arm. “She sounds nice,” she finally says. 

He plants a kiss on her head. “She was.”

***

He is about ten the first time they work up the courage to sneak out past the orchard to swim in the pond. Regina tugs her dress off and is about to jump in when he notices the thick welts peeking out from her petticoat. They look far too big, too harsh on her small body and he opens his mouth to say something until the five year old looks back at him giggling, clearly unaware that there’s anything wrong.  
“Come on, Jefferson! Last one in is ogre bait!”

“Regina, what..” He hesitates, and his tone brings a confused frown to Regina’s face. He shakes his head dismissively.

“Never mind.”

***

Jefferson is allowed to leave the grounds of the house by himself when he turns thirteen. He takes to vacating whenever Regina gets called for a “chat”. Still, once he gets back it’s hard to get away from that sick feeling of helplessness he feels whenever he catches sight of a new bruise or cut on her olive skin.

It makes him feel sick, but he commits each to memory; a reminder of why this can never be his home. He spends hours walking through the marketplace and even works for a hatter for a time. It is from him that he receives the shabby velvet hat that will one day take everything from him. 

He discovers its power one day in the woods near the village. He and Regina are sitting in a small clearing when he absentmindedly spins it. He doesn’t pay much attention to it until the air around the hat darkens and turns purple. The children leap to their feet, ready to flee. Then the hat begins to grow and the portal opens. 

Over the din he hears Regina call out to him.

“Where does it go?”

He looks at her for a moment, before taking her small hand in his own. 

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Peering into the inky blackness of the portal Regina gulps and looks up at Jefferson. “Together?”

He smiles and prepares to jump. “Together.”

***

One day, he sees a girl in the marketplace, and for a second his heart stops. It can’t be. But she looks about the right age and she has the same blonde hair, tied back with a blue ribbon. She’s picking at some fruit, keeping a sideways glance at the vendor. The second he looks away, she grabs the fruit and walks casually into the crowd. He’s so enthralled that he doesn’t move, even as she bumps into him. 

“Sorry,” the girl says, flicking her eyes to his face and nodding slightly.She’s about to keep going when she stops and spins around, inspecting his face more closely.

Her eyes widen and her hand flies to her mouth and she stutters, “J-Jefferson?”

He drops his basket and envelops her in a hug. “I thought you were dead.”

He pulls back and hopes she can’t see the wetness in his eyes, but tears are already pouring down her cheeks as she loops her arms with his and starts walking away from the market. 

“So tell me brother, what have you been up to all these years?”

***

They’re so focused on their conversation that Jefferson doesn’t notice Regina waiting for him at the edge of the Mills property. His heart stops. Her face scrunches in confusion as they get closer.

“Who’re you?” she asks, tilting her head at Alice. 

Jefferson looks up to the hills where the house is and feels a shiver run through him. “Not here,” he says before his companion can reply. He leads them to an abandoned coachhouse near the woods.

Once inside, he finally answers. “Regina, this is my sister, Alice.”

Dark eyes widen with confusion. “But you said she was gone.”

Jefferson wraps an arm around Alice’s shoulder. “I thought she was.” He can feel his heart swelling with excitement as he says the words. “But she survived.”

“Oh.” Regina thinks for a bit, and then happily asks, “Are you going to live with us too?”

Jefferson feels that streak of fear pass through his chest again. “No!” he says suddenly.

Alice looks at him curiously.

He lets go of Alice to kneel down to the younger girl’s level. “Regina, I need you to keep this a secret,” he says carefully. “Alice is going to hide out here for a bit, but you can’t tell anyone, not even your father. Understand?”

Regina nods solemnly. Jefferson searches her eyes for any sign of hesitation, but finds none. He relaxes, if only slightly. The thought of Cora Mills discovering Alice makes his skin crawl too much to let his guard down.

That night, and for every night after, Regina hears Jefferson’s window creak open and she pads into his room just in time to watch him disappear into the darkness. It leaves an ache in the pit of her stomach. 

***

He’s halfway out of the window when he hears her small voice. “Take me with you.” He stops, and he grips the window frame so tightly his knuckles turn white. He had been meticulous in his planning. How could she have figured it out?

“I can’t,” he says, keeping his voice even. She walks further into the room, allowing the moonlight to illuminate her face. She has a small cloak pulled over her nightdress and she’s clutching a small stuffed rabbit. He looks away. 

“Please, Jefferson. You won’t even know I’m there.” He closes his eyes. He will. He’ll spend every moment looking over his shoulder and worrying that Cora has found them. He has more than enough scars to remind him not to invoke the witch’s anger. “No Regina.” 

The harshness of his tone makes her eyes widen in panic. This isn’t their usual game, where she keeps begging until he says yes. She realizes now that he truly means to go without her.

“I’m your family too!” Her eyes narrow accusatorially and the volume of her voice is alarming. “You can’t just leave me behind!” 

“This is your home, Regina. I don’t belong here. Neither does Alice.” He sighs, willing her to understand. “Alice needs me and I can’t abandon her again.”

“Please,” she begs, her voice breaking. She drops the rabbit and wraps her arms around his leg. “I love you. Don’t leave me.”

He can hear noises from the floor above. The disturbance has woken Cora. He removes his leg from her grasp and takes her hands in his. “You’ll be okay, Regina. You’re strong.”

The footsteps are just down the hallway now; he doesn’t have much more time.

“I’m sorry,” Jefferson says, and pushes himself out the window.


End file.
